Verizon Confirms Multiple Windows Phone 8 Handsets for 2012

Several U.S. carriers have already pledged support for Windows Phone 8 and now, Verizon has upped the ante by promising to release multiple Windows Phone 8 handsets in the fourth quarter of 2012.

According to CNET, Verizon Chief Marketing Officer Tami Erwin confirmed that the company will be making multiple Windows Phone additions to its Windows Phone lineup, a lineup that currently boasts the HTC Trophy and the HTC Trophy alone.

The carrier did not specifically say which devices it will carry and at this point it’s impossible to say, even after Nokia and Microsoft showed off Windows Phone 8 powered Lumia devices today. The new Nokia Lumia 920 currently does not have any official carriers while the Lumia 820 will be heading to AT&T and T-Mobile.

HTC, Samsung and others will be releasing Windows Phone 8 hardware later this year so it’s possible that the carrier will opt for devices from those manufacturers instead.

Thus far, AT&T and T-Mobile have been the only carriers to offer Nokia Windows Phone devices though that could very well change with the arrival of Windows Phone 8 hardware.

In addition to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular has said that it will be carrying Windows Phone 8 devices in the future. None of those carriers have confirmed how many devices they will offer in total.

Windows Phone 8 is expected to arrive as soon as October 29th and at that point, we could see a number of devices launch across several U.S. carriers.

If true, the launch of Microsoft’s new mobile operating system would come just three days after the company launches Windows 8 and presumably, the Microsoft Surface tablet.

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Nokia is the second major company to announce Windows Phone 8 hardware. Samsung announced a device called the ATIV S that will launch with Windows Phone 8 and some pretty powerful hardware including a 4.8-inch 720p Super AMOLED display and a dual-core 1.5GHz processor.